


additional fees

by kimchiimoon



Series: modus operandi [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Shy Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-18 16:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18253931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimchiimoon/pseuds/kimchiimoon
Summary: They're just roommates. Who share a bed. And hold hands. And kiss each other.And sometimes Erwin trips and Levi's dick lands in his mouth.





	additional fees

**Author's Note:**

> and they were roommates

Mike’s apartment is being fumigated for termites. Does the apartment actually have termites? He has no clue — he hasn’t seen any bugs — but when his landlord had come barrelling down his door at seven in the morning with a notice of immediate vacation (for one week), Mike had been too tired to ask any questions. 

 

So he packed a bag, got in his car, and drove to Erwin’s — because where else would he stay? 

 

Mike hadn’t really known a lot about Erwin’s roommate, a tiny thing named Levi, but Erwin had mentioned that Levi is meticulously clean and as quiet as a mouse most of the time, which was more than what Mike could ever ask for. 

 

Well, Mike discovers that it’s all true, everything Erwin has said of his roommate. 

 

Levi  _ is _ tiny — he has a step stool tucked between the cabinets so he can reach the very top of the pantry without Erwin’s help. Levi once accidentally grabbed Erwin’s jacket off of the coat hanger in the entryway while taking out the trash, and when he came back inside, Mike had to bite back a snicker at how cute Levi had looked, like a little puppy dripping wet in a jacket that hung well past his fingertips. 

 

Levi  _ is  _ meticulously clean. Actually, Levi is  _ so _ clean that Mike is pretty sure the freshner and solvent fumes are making him loopy and crazy. Neither Levi nor Erwin have a sense of smell as strong as Mike’s, plus Erwin has had  _ months  _ of living with Levi to grow used to the faint lemony scent of the powder that Levi dusts over the carpet when he vacuums. The floor is always spotless, the kitchen table is sterile enough to be used in an operating theatre, and the apartment always looks like it could double as a model or staged home. 

 

Mike doesn’t mind that. 

 

Levi is also is the quietest person Mike has ever lived with. Erwin says it’s normal — Levi is small, he doesn’t make a lot of noise when he walks, and soft-spoken, preferring only to speak when he has something to say. 

 

It seems like Levi really only has things to say to  _ Erwin _ , because aside from a, “ _ good morning _ , _ ” “I made coffee,” _ or “ _ goodnight,”  _ every now and then, Mike hasn’t had a conversation with Levi. 

 

Mike doesn’t mind that either. 

 

He doesn’t like small talk and is pretty quiet himself, so they have a mutual respect with each other, enough so that Mike would consider them friends, though unorthodox ones. 

 

Something Erwin  _ neglected  _ to mention, though — something kind of strange — is that he and Levi  _ share a bedroom _ . 

 

Mike had come to their apartment fully expecting to couch it for a week, and he didn’t mind that. Erwin’s living room couch is big and comfortable, long enough to stretch out on and old enough to have that cozy softness to the touch, so he’s totally surprised when Erwin lugs his stuff to the  _ guest bedroom _ — a room that probably should have been Levi’s, if Levi and Erwin were _ normal _ roommates. 

 

Not that Mike is complaining about having his own bedroom and bathroom — it’s a nice deal. 

 

He  _ is  _ a little jarred when he comes home from work at midnight one evening and the door to  _ Erwin and Levi’s _ bedroom is open — a rarity. They seem to value their privacy and usually leave the door closed all the time, and Mike minds his own business, so he doesn’t care either way — but curiosity gets the better of him this time around. He can’t help but duck around the corner and peek his head through the crack in the door, not entirely sure what to expect. 

 

Naturally, the bedroom is pretty clean, though there are traces of Erwin’s general  _ clutter  _ all over — a stack of books strewn across the very bottom of the bed as if they were kicked to the foot after a long day of reading, a jacket in a heap on the floor, shoes in a haphazard pile. It’s all the usual  _ Erwin _ stuff. 

 

What Mike does  _ not  _ expect is to see Erwin and Levi passed out, Erwin on his back, Levi curled into his side,  _ cuddling _ in the middle of the queen-sized mattress. 

 

Mike gapes, his jaw dropping, pupils dilating, and he suddenly has the pressing feeling that he is looking at something that he should  _ not  _ be looking at — intruding on a moment that is not his to witness. 

 

But, oh. 

 

They  _ do _ look kind of cute. 

 

Erwin sleeps like a thrashing fish; Mike knows this from several sleepovers in college, but he looks peaceful and even a little silly, laying on his back with his usually pristine blond hair sticking up all over the pillow, lips parted. His white sleeping shirt has ridden up and is wrinkled and — oh. 

 

Levi’s hand is there. Resting on the expanse of Erwin’s abdomen that has been exposed by the wrinkly shirt, just above his hip and plaid pajama pants. 

 

Levi looks younger when he sleeps, Mike notes. His hair isn’t as messy as Erwin’s, but his nose does  _ whistle  _ a teeny bit when he breathes. Levi is the one with the blanket tucked around his body almost deliberately, like somebody had wrapped him up in it and is holding him tight and — that’s exactly what Erwin is doing, his arm cradling Levi’s back and keeping their bodies close together, large hand splayed across Levi’s spine. 

 

Mike really,  _ really  _ should look away, so he does. 

 

Because Mike minds his own business. 

 

But even as he turns away, he scratches his head, brows furrowing as he tip-toes to the guest room that is  _ definitely  _ a guest room. 

 

Is  _ that  _ how roommates sleep? Mike hasn’t had a roommate in a long while, but he’s  _ pretty _ sure that  _ that  _ isn’t the usual. 

 

Oh well. 

 

He doesn’t let it bother him too much. Erwin has always been a bit unorthodox, and Levi seems to compliment that nicely. 

  
  


. . . . 

  
  


Going to the county fair is Hange’s idea. They wanted to get everyone together for one of those pinterest-worthy, instagrammable collages of Fall memories. 

 

Unfortunately, Hange has a small friend group, and  _ everyone  _ ends up being Mike, Erwin, and Petra. 

 

Oh, and Erwin’s roommate, apparently. 

 

Hange had been surprised when Erwin had last-minute asked if his roommate could tag along to the county fair with them too. Hange didn’t even know Erwin  _ had  _ a roommate. 

 

_ “Uh, yeah,” Erwin had said distractedly over the phone. “I thought I told you about him.”  _

 

_ Hange frowned and shook their head as if Erwin could see such an action through the phone. “I would have remembered that. What’s his name? First and last.”  _

 

_ Erwin laughed at that. “I’m not going to tell you.”  _

 

_ “I won’t do anything!” Hange protested, waving their hand flippantly in the air. “Y’know, aside from the  _ usual  _ stuff.” They shrug their shoulders. _

 

_ “No background checks. You’ll meet him at the fair. I’ll see you this weekend.” Erwin had shut the subject down quickly, humor still in his voice. _

 

_ “You’re no fun,” Hange pouted. “See you this weekend.”  _

 

_ Since when was running a secret criminal background check on your friend’s new-not-new roommate a crime? _

 

Hange had asked Mike about Erwin’s roommate, and Mike and laughed awkwardly and given absolutely no helpful information aside from simply confirming that yes, Erwin does indeed have a…  _ roommate. _

 

(Mike’s intonation had been weird. Hange grew more suspicious.) 

 

With no information to go off of, Hange’s eyes grow as wide as their glasses when Erwin shows up to the fair holding the hand of a tiny man wearing a big, burnt-sienna colored distressed sweater and black skinny jeans with holes along the knees and thighs — polar opposite of Erwin and his  _ Vineyard Vines Fall 2018 _ catalog outfit of a white sweater and light-wash jeans. 

 

“Is  _ that _ his roommate?” Hange asks, looking between Mike and Petra while Erwin and his roommate are still out of earshot. 

 

Mike doesn’t say anything, bringing his cup of apple cider to his lips, and Petra looks just as bewildered as Hange does, her red hair tousled and blowing softly in the Autumn air. 

 

“Are they  _ holding hands? _ ” Petra asks, voice growing excited as she glances from Hange to Erwin and his roommate. 

 

Hange feels like they need to take off their glasses and clean them, because  _ yeah _ , Erwin is  _ holding hands  _ with his roommate. 

 

Do roommates hold hands? Hange has never held hands with any of their roommates, despite a few valiant efforts. 

 

The group, sans Mike, who has already been introduced, tries not to act too surprised when Erwin introduces his roommate,  _ Levi _ , without letting go of his hand. Erwin is smiling softly as he introduces them to Levi, but his grin is as sincere as any of them have ever seen it. Levi seems kind, if not a little quiet. 

 

Levi gets along with Hange and Petra like a house on fire and fits in so seamlessly with the little group that it’s like he’s been there for years, vibing well with their humor and dynamic. However, even with how wonderfully he gets along with everyone, Levi sticks to Erwin like velcro. They aren’t always holding hands, but they’re  _ always _ touching. 

 

Their shoulders brush (or really, Levi’s shoulder brushes Erwin’s bicep), their fingertips cross when they pass a warm, too-big cup of apple cider back and forth ( _ Do roommates share cups of apple cider? _ wonders Hange), they gravitate towards each other as they walk, always just a step or two behind the rest of them, whispering and talking like schoolchildren. 

 

The decision to ride the rickety old ferris wheel is surprisingly Levi’s. They pair off because the cars only seat two. Mike and Petra, Levi and Erwin (of course), and Hange with the great, big teddy bear that they had won from a carnival booth. 

 

While they wait in line for their tickets, Petra, with her quiet, wicked humor, hopes that  _ one  _ of their cars gets stuck at the very top. 

 

Levi snorts and nudges Erwin’s side. 

 

“Not ours. Big guy over here is a baby about heights.” says Levi, and Erwin just laughs it off and rests his hand along the curve of Levi’s back. 

 

Hange seems to be the only one who notices the affectionate grasp, and their brows furrow, but it isn’t disappointed confusion. Still, they bounce forward, arm outstretched with their front camera out to get a picture with everyone for that pipe-dream collage. 

 

Funnily enough, Erwin and Levi  _ do _ get stuck at the top of the ferris wheel, with Hange right behind them. Hange barely pays the two any attention, too occupied with watching people stumble through the corn maze and run into dead ends, collapsing into each other in fits of laughter. 

 

But when they  _ do _ cast a glance toward Erwin and Levi, they are only minutely shocked to watch Levi turn his head and quickly, yet tenderly, press a kiss to Erwin’s cheek. 

 

Brows hidden in bangs, Hange hums to themself in interest. 

 

Do roommates kiss each others cheeks? 

 

Maybe some of them do, but Erwin has  _ never _ been one for such public displays of platonic affections. 

 

How interesting. 

 

Hange doesn’t say anything about the exchange once the ferris wheel ride is complete and everyone in the group is safely on the ground. Instead, they just excitedly point to the entrance of the corn maze, ushering everyone toward the opening. 

 

Maybe  _ some _ roommates kiss each others cheeks. 

 

. . . . 

 

One lazy, rainy movie night is when it becomes clear to everybody that Erwin and Levi are  _ not  _ normal roommates. 

 

Surprisingly, it had been Levi who propositioned a movie night, suggesting the merging of his small social circle with Erwin’s small social circle. The two groups converged quite nicely, with Levi’s best friends, Isabel and Furlan, meshing nicely with Petra, Mike, and Hange. 

 

Movie night had gone smoothly, with drinks and laughter being exchanged amongst all, jokes and tender memories forming easily. 

 

Some time after the third film, one-by-one, the group began to doze off. Isabel went first, followed by Mike, Furlan, Hange, and finally Petra. Levi had been in-between sleep and wakefulness when Erwin, ever the exhibitionist, had quietly pressed a hand between Levi’s legs. 

 

Naturally, things only escalated, until Levi and Erwin had tip-toed between their sleeping friends and retreated into their own bedroom. 

 

It is not the thunder or rain that slowly wakes the group, despite the thunder being arduous and overwhelming. 

 

It is not the wind that whips so violently and insistently around the building, trying to peer between the blinds and windows, eager for a peak at what might possibly be happening between closed doors. 

 

None of these things rouse them. 

 

What  _ does  _ wake Mike, who then wakes everyone else, are the feather-soft, whispery cries coming from behind Erwin and Levi’s bedroom door. 

 

_ “Erwin — ah.”  _

 

It is sinful — sinful and sweet and something that they are intruding on. Isabel turns as red as Petra’s hair, and Furlan coughs awkwardly into his shoulder. Hange grins brightly, and Petra can only smile despite how clear it is that the sounds that they are hearing are  _ not _ sounds made by roommates. 

 

Because surely that’s all that Erwin and Levi are,  _ right? _

 

Roommates. 

 

Roommates that hold each other close in the night. Roommates that stick like velcro and share clandestine kisses at the top of ferris wheels, contrasting so sweetly against one another. Roommates that sneak away in the dead of night to express love and tenderness, quiet as can be, but obvious to the world. 

 

Roommates. 

 

Right. 

 

Petra makes the executive decision that it is high time they all excuse themselves, and it is unanimous that nobody will dare knock on the bedroom door to inform the sweet couple of the night’s end. 

 

The next time they all get together, squeezed together as a group of seven in a karaoke room meant for a group of five, Isabel bashfully passes Erwin and Levi a small card, blank except for the inside, which has been signed by all of them. 

 

_ Congratulations, roomies.  _

  
Because, Erwin and Levi are, after all,  _ just roommates. _

**Author's Note:**

> _oh my god they were roommates_


End file.
